Edmonds, I once almost ran head on into a motorcycle cop there in the middle of the winter. It scared the shit out of me because it was dark, and all of a sudden there was a BIG headlight. We both kind of stopped and said “Whoa!” and then both shrugged it off to continue on our ways.

That was the only time I’ve ever seen another person on the rampy thing at all. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who uses it in the winter, based on tire tracks.

I haven’t played Wheelset of Fortune for about a year and a half, and I’ve since moved out of Pittsburgh, but I’ve been exploring my new city on bike and want to play again! Do the tags still last 2 weeks?

They do, typically. I see Sara didn’t set an end time when she set Tag #2. Two weeks would be Wednesday, June 12. Can we go with that? Let’s just say we close the tag at 23:59 Pittsburgh time on Wednesday. All y’uns in various other time zones (@drewbacca/@headloss in Chicago, @brybot in SF, @jeg in Germany), you know the offset to EDT better than I do.

Tag #1 Undergrowth, shrubbery: This isn’t really blocking my path, but it’s making going through the park on bike or foot occasionally unpleasant because it’s stinging nettle and it’s everywhere here! (The fact that poison ivy does NOT grow here more than makes up for it, though!)

Tag #2 Great place to ride: Complete streets! Many of the major roads here look like this. (Red brick is bike lane, grey stone is sidewalk, in the middle is two directions of traffic separated by streetcar tracks and some grass.) Yay! Right before I took this picture I actually got stuck in bike traffic at an intersection.

Water fountain (much needed today!) at the back side (Colorado Street side) of the Marshall Parklet, intersection of Marshall and California on the north side/Brighton Heights. This is where the climb on California starts, so it was great to verify that there is a nice cool water fountain at the playground.

P.S. This is my new “almost” bike. Dan’s been gracious enough to let me try it out for a couple of days before I buy it. If I can work out a few kinks, it might become my next go to bike, rather than my new back up bike. It’s a pretty sweet ride!

In compiling results, I number the two sets together, so there would be five total, numbered 1 to 5, then I select two from that.
(I will not contend the results, though, just pointing out methodology.)

I also like how the two winners this round are our two regulars who aren’t in Pittsburgh!

StuInMcCandless wrote:
I also like how the two winners this round are our two regulars who aren’t in Pittsburgh!

Which leads to the first tag… Home Away From Home. ;)

Kinda bummed that I missed the free water tag, as I took a great shot of a fountain with four bikes at the Adirondack shelters, off the GAP, in Connellsville… I misplaced my camera somewhere between Hancock, MD. and Cumberland… hopefully I left it at my cousin’s. :(

Anywho, I’ll post my home-away-from-home pic tomorrow as I have the perfect location in mind.

Tag number two: playgrounds/jungle gyms, the more interesting the better! I’ve been noticing many of these tucked into in city parks here. Most of them seem to be well-used by kids and families, and when they’re not I sometimes try them out myself! Someone should really build adult-scale jungle gyms.

Two weeks gives us Friday, July 19th at 6 am Pittsburgh time (10 am UTC).

One week down, one week to go!
Just to be clear, I meant for the whole “home away from home” thing to be taken as figuratively as possible. Get creative! :D guest-house, visiting team dugout, a college dorm, or someone sleeping in their car?

I’m back! Work has let up a tiny bit and my travel schedule settled down. I celebrated by cruising down the GAP a ways today.

Playground – steamboat looking thing in McKeesport. Sadly, it was pretty neglected and smelled like pee.

And home away from home: Lowes. The back story here is that my husband and I are redoing our old ass (1890) house in Crafton. We got to Lowes a lot. Fun fact: I’m pretty sure all Lowes stores adhere to one of three layouts. Hardware on the left, hardware on the right, or hardware in the back. All other things can then be located by their proximity to the hardware aisle.

Also if you are doing a big job and buy everything at once (like all fixtures for a bathroom, plus the copper pipe and tile and blah blah), you can go to their customer service and have them treat you like a contractor for a price break.

Lastly, they have a store credit card that gives you 5% off at the register, which only works if you pay it off each month because the interest rate is so high it should be illegal.

Here’s my ‘home away from home’… my office at work. I wish it were some secluded vacation getaway, but this is where I spend the majority of my time when not at home… I’ve made it as comfortable as I can. I can even fit my bike in there when I’m too lazy to lock it up on the loading docks of the building.

Having the bike in there also prevents annoying co-workers from plopping in the seat across from my desk and blabbing on-and-on about something I’d rather not hear about….

Tag #1: Home away from home.
West View Dunkin Donuts, where I am sitting as I type this! It was either here or one of the Crazy Mochas. I can often be found in the Allegheny Building, Liberty at Tito, or the North Side.
(The bike really is in this picture. My white pannier can be seen better than the bike itself.)

Tag #2: Playgrounds – Martorelli Stadium, where North Hills High School plays its football games. A playground for bigger kids, so to speak. When I went past, there were a dozen or so joggers running laps.